This blog has nothing to do with gorillas (though I love 'em)...fellow bloggers have inspired me to share vintage images of Disneyland from my personal collection. But don't be surprised if you see something from a World's Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, or someplace else that is cool!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Here are more fun family photos, graciously donated to me from the Devlin family!

Let's start with this one, taken from the Pavilion Lanai in Adventureland. You could enjoy a great view of the Jungle Cruise loading dock while you ate your lunch - sounds pretty entertaining. This picture features siblings Patrick, Mary, and Mike. Mike would eventually become an Imagineer! More on that in future posts. I love the "native" shield and even the wicker-backed chairs.

This is the only other Adventureland photo in this batch; I like the soft-focus foreground (Patrick again), and the fearsome hippo in the background.

I was looking forward to this. The first photo is great showing the Jungle Cruise dock and Pavilion dining Jungle lookout. It makes it extra special knowing there are GDB readers in the photo and at such an early time in Disneyland history. I've seen a lot of those Carnation milk cartons in my day. What memories those bring up. Thanks again, Tom for sharing your family photos. And thanks for hosting, Major.

It's too bad the location of the first picture didn't remain a dining location...what a great view. And the JC skippers could have had a funny joke while waving to the people seated close to the edge, and mentioning something about Trader Sam, etc. Anyway, thank you Devlin Family and The Major..

I also remember those milk cartons! The milk companies changed the design of those while I was in elementary school, but I remember they were still using this particular carton when I was in the third grade. That year, our teacher had us save our cartons from lunchtime and we turned them into vases to give to our moms for Mother's Day. The art project involved scraping the wax off of the carton and then painting them. My mom still has the "vases" that my brother and I made for her many years ago!

Yes, thank you to Tom for sharing his family photos with us and to the Major for posting them!

Nanook, I think back to the days when I drank milk with every meal. The entire bottom shelf of our refrigerator was cartons of milk, when I was a kid. Now I almost never drink it, unless I am eating cookies or cake.

K. Martinez, I really do love that “lookout” dining area… it makes me wish they had others like it. I guess the Blue Bayou is sort of the same idea, and possibly Rancho El Zocalo (if you are sitting in the right area).

walterworld, you are right, now that the Jungle Cruise is basically a nonstop jokey experience, they could certainly work in a few laughs involving a nearby restaurant.

TokyoMagic!, it’s so funny, that milk carton craft project sounds just like the kind of thing I had to do growing up. We never used milk cartons, but we did have to bring in empty oatmeal cartons (those cardboard, cylindrical boxes with the lids). I love that your mom still has the vases that you and your brother made!

MRaymond, I think you might be right… as far as I know, the Tahitian Terrace was roughly in the same spot as the Pavilion Lanai.

Major, you just reminded me of the functional cameras that we made out of oatmeal cartons in an 8th grade photography class. I'm also remembering now, that the milk carton vases were intended for dry or "straw" flowers. Does anyone decorate with those anymore?

That first shot makes the dock look so wide. With the dock being narrower these days I went off looking for modern pictures so I could compare and found this instead: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bananaphone5000/media/GORILLA3/8-58_CruiseDock.jpg.html

I find it funny how people are disturbed about the shortening of the Rivers of America for Star Wars Land when over twenty years ago the Jungle River was shortened, removing part of the rainforest, a bend in the river below the Swiss Family Treehouse and the crocodile scene with several toucans. In addition, the river was way pushed in to widen the walkway through Adventureland and accommodate the new two-story Jungle Cruise building as well as the queue for Indiana Jones Adventure. The Jungle Cruise was shortened by a 1/5th of it's original size because of it. What they're doing to Rivers of America today was done to the Jungle River over 20 years ago.

As I always say: "These are the good old days". When the Seattle Center "campus", Home to the Seattle World's Fair, was experiencing its 50th anniversary in 2012, there was a lot of moaning over many of the original fair buildings which have since been done-away-with, and not adapted to newer uses. I always found that sentiment a bit odd, as if you walk around the grounds these days there is PLENTY that remains from the 1962 World's Fair - and not just the Space Needle, Monorail, the International Fountain or the Armory (then called The Center House during the fair), and re-named back to its original name in 2012).

And besides, where were all the naysayers back in 1961 to cry foul when many fine old homes, buildings and even streets were razed to make way for the fair-? (Undoubtedly there were some). Suddenly '1962' became the New Normal, and any disruption to that condition is an afront on common decency.

Change is inevitable. The question isn't "if" it will happen, but "when", and make certain the change is a welcome one most folks can embrace both for the short and long term.

Major, we made butter in school too! We also baked bread! And hatched and raised chickens.....and silkworms!

Ken, I lamented the loss of every inch of the Jungle Cruise 20 years ago! I wasn't on the internet, so I only had a couple people to commiserate with instead of a whole online community. If I had liked the Indiana Jones Adventure, then I might have said that it was a fair trade-off, but I have never been happy with that attraction. I was actually looking forward to it prior to it opening, but in my opinion, the artwork looked far better than the final product. I will say that I enjoy the version at Tokyo DisneySea a tad better than the Anaheim version.

Nanook, When I first went to the Seattle Center about eight years ago, I was actually surprised by how much was still there from the Seattle World's Fair. I just wished the Space Needle was still Galaxy Gold.

TokyoMagic!, Now for me the trade off was worth it. I thought the revamp of the Jungle Cruise with the more realistic jungle worn and grungy jungle launches and the two-story boathouse queue was a big plus and the Indian Jones Adventure queue the best ever done in Disneyland. That's why I want to hold judgment about the Rivers of America changes. I do remember you saying you preferred the original launches with the candy striped canopies. They did match Walt's vision of a clean and tidy park, but I still prefer the worn look.

For the 50th, the Space Needle was re-painted back to its original colors of - Astronaut White, Orbital Olive, Re-entry Red & Galaxy Gold. (I wonder if any local paint companies back in '62 offered colors with the same names-??)